The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a Brazilian returnee, Igwedum Uche, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos, with cocaine pellets concealed in his private part.
According to preliminary investigations, the suspect consumed 50 wraps of cocaine before leaving Brazil and excreted 48 pellets in Addis Abbaba, where he handed them to another person.
Mr. Uche claimed he could not excrete the remaining two wraps before boarding his flight in Addis Abbaba, but did so in the aircraft restroom on the flight from Ethiopia to Lagos.
The NDLEA have also arrested one Onyekachi Chukwuma Macdonald, the drug lord in charge of attempts to export 40 packages of methamphetamine, also known locally as Mkpuru Mmiri, to London, United Kingdom through the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport. He was apprehended on Saturday night, June 25, at the MMIA after three weeks of painstaking investigation and tracking.
A statement issued by the agency’s Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday says Onyekachi was arrested at Manacola estate, Alakuko area of Lagos at the weekend, three weeks after his Mkpuru Mmiri consignment weighing 2.05kilograms was intercepted at the airport and his freight agent, Peter Christopher Anikan arrested on 7th June.
The suspect who hails from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo state said he had spent the previous 10 years living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before coming back to Nigeria in 2019.
He claimed that after arriving back in Nigeria, he opened a store selling phone accessories in Sango Otta, Ogun state, but the venture failed. After receiving advice from a friend, he decided to hide the illegal substance in the shipment of cigarettes that he was sending to London.
Closely related is the seizure of another consignment of 2kg Mkpuru Mmiri at a courier house in Owerri, Imo state. The cargo seized on Wednesday 22nd June had ankara and lace fabrics in which two cylindrical cellophanes containing the drug heading to Hong Kong were concealed.
500,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg packed in 10 cartons and labelled Tramaking imported from Karachi, Pakistan on Emirates Airline was intercepted by NDLEA operatives on Friday 24th June. The consignment weighing 407.60kg was seized during a joint examination with Customs and NAFDAC officials.
Same day, a Dubai, UAE-bound passenger, Alegbeleye Taiwo was arrested at the departure hall of the MMIA with 40 ampoules of pentazocine injection. The 21-year-old suspect claims he is from Osun state.
Meanwhile, two kingpins behind the importation of two recent drug consignments from Canada concealed in vehicle containers through the Tincan seaport in Apapa, Lagos have been arrested by NDLEA operatives.
One of them, Gboyega Ayoola Elegbeji was arrested at his house, 14 Bakare Street, Idi Araba, Lagos on Wednesday 22nd June, for importing a 40ft container containing 33 parcels of cannabis indica (Colorado)https://www.tvcnews.tv/2022/06/i-was-a-son-of-nobody-my-parents-never-went-to-school-obasanjo/
The second suspect, Sunday Joe Oyebola, (aka Otunba) was arrested on Thursday 23rd June. He is linked to the importation of a 40ft container containing four vehicles used to conceal 290 parcels weighing 145kg cannabis indica (Colorado) from Montreal, Canada. He had been on the run since March and had in the course of the investigation attempted to bribe officers with N10million to influence the case.
Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) praised the officers and personnel of the Agency’s MMIA, Tincan, and Imo state Commands for the drug seizures and arrests, especially of those who believed they could avoid the long arm of the law. He exhorted them and their comrades in other formations to increase their efforts in order to accomplish predetermined objectives.
Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) praised the officers and personnel of the Agency’s MMIA, Tincan, and Imo state Commands for the drug seizures and arrests, especially of those who believed they could avoid the long arm of the law. He encouraged them and their comrades in other formations to increase their efforts in order to accomplish set objectives.
